Structural Aspects of Peptides with Immunomodulating Activity

Abstract

The main function of the innate immune system from insects to mammals is to detect the presence of and act against invading microorganisms by recognizing their unique molecular signatures, most importantly, components of bacterial cell walls. A large number of peptides and derivatives, both synthetic and of natural origin, are known to influence immune responses in mammals by interacting with the conserved microbial structures, making the former attractive targets for drug development. This review focuses on structural aspects of the immunomodulating peptides and their receptors, including primary constitution, stereochemistry, conformation, binding and hydrophobic properties.

Muramyl Dipeptide and its Derivatives: Peptide Adjuvant in Immunological Disorders and Cancer Therapy

“…Since then, several reviews have followed 77–81 . In general, MDP ( N -acetylmuramyl- L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine) can be synthesized by the coupling reaction of 3 subunits; N -acetyl-D-glucosamine, lactic acid or its equivalent and dipepide.…”

Targeted Delivery of Adamantylated Peptidoglycan Immunomodulators in Lipid Nanocarriers: NMR Shows That Cargo Fragments Are Available on the Surface

“…5 However, it also has too many side effects to be used in vaccines. 6 Fragments and substances 7 derived from PGN also exhibit weaker adjuvant activities with diminished adverse effects. One of the most widely used PGN fragments is muramyl dipeptide 8 (MDP) containing the N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (L-Ala-D-iGln) motif of PGN, which is the minimal essential unit of PGN.…”